Global Stocks Fall as Investors Turn Cautious -- Update

By Riva Gold 

Stocks and oil fell back Tuesday while gold and the yen climbed as investors turned cautious following last week's rally.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was off 1.4% in early trade, deepening Monday's losses. Energy and mining stocks suffered as Brent crude oil dropped 2.3% to $48.94 a barrel and copper prices shed 0.8% to $4,847 a ton.

Real estate shares also fell sharply after Standard Life Investments suspended trading in a U.K. commercial real-estate fund following Britain's vote to exit the European Union. Shares in British housebuilding companies Bovis Homes Group PLC and Taylor Wimpey PLC were down over 6%.

Futures pointed to a 0.6% opening loss for the S&P 500 following the Independence Day holiday. Changes in futures don't necessarily reflect market moves after the opening bell.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.7%, snapping a six-session winning streak, as the yen climbed against the dollar.

Stocks in Hong Kong fell 1.5%, while Australian shares fell 1% after Australia's central bank left its cash rate unchanged.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained slightly, however, on hopes for state-owned enterprise reform and after a private gauge showed activity in China's services sector expanded at a faster rate in June.

In currencies, the dollar was last down 0.8% against the yen at Yen101.7550. The British pound fell 0.8% against the dollar to $1.3168, a day after the U.K.'s construction PMI fell to a seven-year low and ahead of the Bank of England's Financial Stability Report due later in the morning.

As investors sought havens, gold rose 0.7% to $1,347 an ounce. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note hit fresh lows. The bid yield fell as low as 1.382% in early European trade, a fraction below the previous intraday low of 1.385% reached on Friday, according to Tradeweb. while the yield on 10-year German government debt fell to minus 0.158%. Yields move inversely to prices.

Christopher Whittall contributed to this article.

Write to Riva Gold at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 05, 2016 04:59 ET (08:59 GMT)

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